At this weekend's Daytona 500, the beginning
of the 2004 NASCAR season, don't expect to spot any black drivers.
While NASCAR's logo contains a rainbow of colors, the diversity
of hues doesn't translate to the track. Auto racing continues
to be a sport of mostly white competitors and fans.

In 2003, Bill Shack of Jesse Jackson's
Rainbow/PUSH Coalition called auto racing "the last bastion
of white supremacy" in professional sports.1 That's not the case. NASCAR officials want minority
drivers, crew and fans, but there's not a whole lot they can
do about it. The fundamental problem is that it's hard to break
into the sport.

Unlike basketball or football, raw talent
isn't enough to get an aspiring driver to the checkered flag
first. There are no walk-ons in auto racing. To compete in the
Nextel Cup Series, the major league of NASCAR, a driver literally
needs to be the "Six Million-Dollar Man." That's the
estimated minimum cost for maintaining a car and crew of a dozen
for a season.2

For a new driver, it's a daunting obstacle.
It's little wonder that the sport is dominated by family names
like Earnhardt, Petty, Marlin and Waltrip.3

Contrary to Shack's assertion, however,
racing is not devoid or adverse to minorities. In 1963, Wendell
Scott, who was involved since the early days of NASCAR, became
the first and so far only black driver to win a major league
race.4 Bill Lester currently drives in the Craftsman
Truck Series,5 and there are many more black drivers chomping
at the bit to compete.

NASCAR has responded with the "Drive
for Diversity" program to create four minority drivers and
crews for regional Dodge Weekly Series races. Former NFL superstar
Reggie White similarly plans to field a minority driver backed
by a veteran crew in the Carolinas.6

But this still won't ensure Jeff Gordon
and Rusty Wallace will face a black competitor in the future.
The "Tiger Woods of NASCAR" won't be able to get anywhere
near the track at Watkin's Glen or Daytona without the proper
funding. Corporate America can effectively break auto racing's
color barrier by sponsoring minority drivers and crews.

NASCAR sponsorships are a lucrative prospect
for savvy businesses, and gives drivers the money to compete.
The sport boasts 75 million fans, experiencing a 19 percent boost
between 2000 and 2002 alone.7
Fifty-eight percent of them are between the ages of 18 and 44
years old, and 40 percent are women.8
Over 40 percent earn $50,000 a year or more.9 They also usually own their own homes and have
children. And NASCAR season runs from February to November.

They are also intensely loyal to the
sport and their favorite drivers. A 2002 Performance Research
survey found product sponsorship of NASCAR "almost always"
or "frequently" factored into the shopping habits of
71 percent of fans.10 This
is compared to only 47 percent in professional golf.11 Forty percent say they would switch their brand
allegiance due a company's racing sponsorship.12

There's no shortage of willing minority
drivers in need of corporate sponsorship, and no lack of interest
in them among them among NASCAR officials. Giving them the money
they must have to field a competent team is the key to integrating
the sport and for them to bring home the titles. NASCAR officials
can't help in the same way the NFL commissioner cannot bend the
rules to help the Detroit Lions field a better team.

Not only will money help integrate the
field, but it will also create more fans. Minority interest in
the sport is already growing, with the black fan base reportedly
growing by 29 percent between 1999 and 2003.13 The presence of more drivers of color can only
bring more minority fans to the sport and the products they endorse.

It's time to end the perception that
NASCAR is a white sport. It's not about white, but about green.
Money. That's the key to getting any driver on the track, and
businesses finding good black drivers is a win-win scenario for
everyone.

# # #

David W. Almasi is executive
director of The National Center for Public Policy Research, a
non-partisan Capitol Hill think-tank. Readers may write her at
NCPPR, 501 Capitol Court, N.E., Washington, DC 20002
or by e-mail at [email protected].